Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Whirlwind

My goodness, what a whirlwind the last few days have been!

I typed my last post as I was waiting for my friend Emily to come get me. She is the sweetest thing! She is a respiratory therapist, and knows all about DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate forms which patients can sign). After my mom called me on Monday, I sent a quick text to Emily asking her to pray for my Papa. She called me back moments later and said "Where are you? I'm coming to get you."

There was no arguing with her, and two hours later, she was here straight from San Diego. We got in her car and drove up to Oxnard, enjoying each other's company and a few tears along the way.

We stopped at my parents' house to get the latest update before going over to see Papa and Ami, and then headed over with dinner for Ami and bits of food to entice Papa to eat.

When we got there, Papa was asleep in his chair. He has had very little energy lately, especially since he really hadn't eaten in four days.

Ami was glad to see us. She cheered up right away with our presence, and happily went around the house showing Emily all of the fun little things I enjoyed as a child. As we were looking at her musical carousel, I heard a cough and looked over to see Papa smiling and waving from his chair. He is deaf, so I pulled a chair next to his and sat, typing away on the laptop so he could read my words. He was very tired, and didn't talk to me, but he enjoyed reading stories that I wrote out about our trip to Kansas and our friend's wedding in San Diego last weekend. His laugh is weak, these days, but it still warms my heart!

Emily and I heated up soup that Mom had sent with us, and though we couldn't get Papa to eat any soup, we sneaked him pieces of a crescent roll, and he ate most of one.

He was tired, and Em and I were exhausted emotionally and physically from our trip, so we said goodnight and headed back to Dad and Mom's for the night.

In the morning, we went back and spent time with Papa and Ami. He was more alert and had enough of an appetite to eat half a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup. Praise the Lord! As long as we can keep food in him, I'm praying his strength will return.

Around 2:00, Em and I said goodbye and headed back home. I'm still so exhausted from all of our travels, and just need to be home to recharge before anything else happens.

Emily dropped me off at church where I was greeted by all of the kids who were in School Age Care waiting for their parents. Their hugs are such morale boosters! And they were all very concerned when they heard that my papa was sick. It really touched my heart to hear them say "I'm so sorry! You get an extra hug."

I'm reveling in being home for the next few days. Kate and I are heading up to Oxnard on Friday to see Laura's opening night of Pirate's of Penzance. That girl is living and breathing theater these days! It will be a lot of fun--especially since Dad has a part in this play too! I love that even with as busy as things are on the homefront right now, between church and the ceramic studio, Papa's health, and everything else, that he's making time to be involved in something that Laura is passionate about. I can't wait to see them together on stage!

3 comments:

Hey Bethany; didn't realize you had a blog :O I'm glad to hear he's doing a bit better at least, and still praying for you and him. Is he receiving any kind of treatment? There are things he could be prescribed to help with his appetite; might be something to look into.

Beautiful words, Bethany! Thanks be to God for your Grandpa's continued strength and for the love of those around him. Life can throw us some unexpected turns but knowing God is there to be our guiding light is refreshing. What a blessing your visit to your papa was. Memories from time with family are a treasure that is invaluable. Jon and I are so glad to have become friends with both you and Jesse this year! :)